


Mechanical Error

by Burning_Sol



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 17:40:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17750477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burning_Sol/pseuds/Burning_Sol
Summary: Prompt from school. Never handed it in so... Here.





	Mechanical Error

“FREEZE, POLICE!”

 

Eyes flickered up over the top of a coffee mug, face cast in a shadow by the brim of a navy blue cap. He threw back a final chug of bitter caffeine, pushing away from the counter and straightening his jacket. The cheap yellow lights burned so intensely in the diner that you could almost hear the electricity crackling under the cover of night. The usual light that would make the diner glow proudly was disturbed by police cars, lined up haphazardly outside with lights blaring obnoxiously. The strip of road isolating the diner did little to spread thin the residents of his home town, the man could pick out who these police officers were with a blindfold on. Even if their uniform distorted the image he had ingrained into his mind. 

 

“Louise Cinder? You’re under arrest for physical assault, theft, murder and...” Louise dug into the confines of his brown leather jacket. He pulled out oil stained dollar notes and placed them alongside his empty mug, leaving a good tip for the trouble. “...and are you listening to me?” 

 

“I come here for coffee and all I get offered is gunpowder. Not good business protocol if you ask me, Jim.”

 

“Louise, I held out for you... I really did. Do you think this is what your mama wants?”

 

Louise’s cap tipped up to expose his face to the light, outlining his harsh features and an ugly scowl. Giving his childhood friend a once over, Louise couldn’t say he liked who he saw. Five officers, his revolver could only whip out six per round. Louise had already used up two. He instinctively reached a hand behind his back and gripped the handle peaking from his jacket. 

 

“Nobody brings my mama into a fight, Jim.”

 

Louise flicked the safety off. With an audible click, the newbie officers scrambled for their guns. One crack of the whip and an officer was on the ground. Fuck. He missed Jim. Louise jumped over the countertop and pressed back against it, as if the effort would do him any good. Several clumsy gunshots whizzed past overhead, the newbies’ shots no doubt. The splintering of the counter behind his back could only have been attributed to one of the more confident officers in the bunch, a blood roaring in his ears just as evident splattered across his leg. 

 

He heard a sharp cry he barely registered as his own, a hand clenching at his side protectively. Already bent over, it didn’t take much effort for Louise to drop down and start crawling towards the diner’s kitchen. A hand pressed into his wound and his gun leading his limping crawl, his distressed retreat covered up by the sound of gunshots. He was in front of the door but the usually short length in front of him may as well have been a mile when another bullet could hammer him in less than a second. 

 

Sweat beaded on his forehead, carefully getting up onto his knees before his shaky legs stuttered to the door. The doors were soft and pliant, flapping in the wind while he stumbled for another piece of cover. He vaguely recognised shouting over the adrenaline seeping into his senses. The doors to the kitchen were flung open again and suddenly he was forced to the ground. One of his bullets skittered across the ground before he happened to flip over in an effort of brute force, his fifth bullet piercing through the officer’s chest. 

 

Only one bullet and four officers were still after his ass. The dead man was hauling himself up and heaving the back door open, the air embracing him in a bitter cold. He was sprinting through the empty staff parking lot in favour of the public parking, his rusty vehicle crying out to him.

 

Louise was almost there. He could make it. 

 

One. Five. Seven. Eleven. Each stride was bringing him closer to the end. A hand sticky with red tugged out keys and unlocked the car. He collapsed into his seat and thrusted the keys in, jerking them and charging the vehicle with life. One hand awkwardly changed gears while the other held onto the wheel for dear life. 

 

Everything slowed down. The adrenaline was fading and his mind was thick with sludge. Eyes struggling to form a single image, constantly seeing double of the road. Double of a car. Double of the speeding. Double of the not headlights. Huh. Why wasn’t the car- ?

 

**C R A SH**

 

.

 

. .

 

. . .

 

“. . . .and you couldn’t see him?”

 

“No officer. I couldn’t see Louise Cinder.” 

 

“Well, I think that’s enough on this.” Jim closed the binder, sighing. “It’s about time this case was closed anyways. Thank you for your cooperation. Glad to know you made it out okay.”

 

“Thank you officer.”

 

“It’s a shame really... What a way to go.”


End file.
